Inflation rate in Germany remains unchanged at 1.7 pct

Source: Xinhua | 2020-03-14

The inflation rate in Germany remained at 1.7 percent in February compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Friday.

At the same time, the total prices of goods were up 1.8 percent in February year-on-year, it said.

Food prices increased above average by 3.3 percent. Destatis noted that "marked price increases" were recorded for fruit, up by 9 percent, and meat and meat products, up by 8 percent.

Prices for energy products in Germany rose by 2 percent year-on-year. Prices for electricity were up 4.4 percent while prices for heating oil were "considerably down" by 10.1 percent, according to Destatis.

The Statistical Office noted that the "price development of food and energy had an upward effect on the inflation rate" in February. Excluding food and energy prices, the inflation rate in Germany would have only been at 1.5 percent.

On Thursday, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) announced "a severe economic slump" due to the coronavirus, and lowered its forecast for German gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.2 percentage points to minus 0.1 percent in 2020.